Oslo String Quartet artist

Oslo String Quartet is widely recognized as one of the most versatile string quartets of our day. Since it was founded in 1991 it has established a reputation as an ensemble that unites high artistic standards with a degree of playfulness and an absolute integrity. The quartet’s concerts and recordings have consistently received acclaim, both by the public and by critics. A strong attachment to the music of Beethoven has resulted in several performances of his complete string quartets, for example in the quartet’s festival “The Beethoven Code” in 2006. Their programmes range from the classic string quartet repertoire to the works of contemporary composers, but also include music in other genres, and their unique versions of, for example, Peer Gynt and Tosca break with what is normally expected of a string quartet.
The quartet has played regularly in many important halls and festivals, such as the Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Dortmund Internationales Streich Quartett Festival, the Risør Chamber Music Festival, the Oslo Quartet Series, the Orlando Festival and the Canary Islands Music Festival. Outside Norway, it is in Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Spain and Denmark that the quartet has given most concerts. The quartet is never happier than when playing in small rooms – rooms of the size for which chamber music was originally written – and such “house concerts” are the Oslo String Quartet’s most important arena when sharing challenging programmes with its public.
The Oslo String Quartet plays on instruments loaned by Dextra Musica and the ensemble is supported by Arts Council Norway. The current members of the quartet are Geir Inge Lotsberg and Liv Hilde Klokk (violins), Are Sandbakken (viola) and Øystein Sonstad (cello).